A few miles to the west along the ridge is Mt. Coglians, with 2,780 m (9,121 ft) the highest peak of the Carnic and Gailtal Alps. Before reaching the upper Gail Valley, the pass road also crosses the lower Gailbergsattel at 981 m (3,219 ft) in the north.

The Italian name derives from LatinMonte Crucis ("mountain of the cross"), a denotation of the pass in mediæval times. The valley of the Gail River had been a settlement area since the Neolithic era, and a bridle path probably existed already in the Bronze Age. Roman forces under General Tiberius rebuilt the path as a road after the incorporation of the Noricum province in 15 BC, in order to reach the newly conquered lands north of the Carnic Alps from Italy.

The well constructed road was in use throughout the Middle Ages as part of the trade route between Aquileia and Salzburg, also after the Carnia region in the south was conquered by the Republic of Venice in 1420. The former mansio at Timau (Tischelwang, today part of Paluzza) south of the pass was resettled by miners from Carinthia, up to today it is a German-speaking enclave on Italian territory.